Southern California -- this just in

What's your take on the latest USC vs. UCLA rivalry pranks?

December 3, 2010 | 3:45
pm

The stakes are unusually low for the annual USC-UCLA football game Saturday at the Rose Bowl. The Trojans are banned by NCAA sanctions from postseason play and the mediocre Bruins didn't win enough games to be bowl eligible.

This week's shenanigans pale in comparison to previous bouts of prank rivalry between the schools, a battle that dates to 1941 and USC's theft of UCLA's 295-pound victory bell. Other stunts over the years included planting 20,000 gold-and-cardinal-painted crickets in UCLA's library, kidnapping USC fans and chaining them to fire hydrants -- and numerous sneak assaults on statues of Tommy Trojan and UCLA's Bruin Bear.

Here's a sample of the social media reaction to this week's events:

What do you think? Do you have a favorite USC-UCLA rivalry story? Share them in comments below or send us a Twitter update using the #LATchatter hashtag.